July 10, 2016

David Edelstein, a film critic for CBS and NPR, on Sunday took on what he called "a culture deformed by double standards" that pressure women to get plastic surgery.

In a commentary segment on CBS Sunday Morning, Edelstein called out a fellow male film critic who complained that Renee Zellweger's plastic surgery had made it difficult for him to enjoy her latest movie.

"Imagine a woman in an industry where producers are known to separate head shots into two piles: those they would want to sleep with and those they wouldn't," he said. "Actors often refer to their bodies as instruments and the most important part of that instrument is of course the face with which they can register the finest quivers of emotion."

"Plastic surgery involves cutting muscles, fillers eliminate lines of expression," the film critic continued. "So, they are actually hurting themselves as artists. But to shame actress for having work done willy-nilly and not because they're up against brutal pressure from inside and outside their industry seems to me inhuman."

Edelstein concluded: "It's not just a problem for Renee Zellweger, it's a problem for all women in a culture deformed by double standards. And it's a problem for men, me included, who can end up sounding like entitled creeps."

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